A little bit of news, Insiders.
Shared this on social media last week, but LA Kings Assistant General Manager Nelson Emerson will take on some additional responsibilities this season, as the General Manager of the AHL’s Ontario Reign. The position opened up this summer when Richard Seeley accepted an Assistant General Manager role with the Vancouver Canucks. Seeley had been with Ontario since 2018……we actually got hired in Ontario at almost the same time! Emerson has been with the Kings organization in several different roles throughout his time here, which began as a player. He’s been behind the bench, in the coaches office and in the management booth, where he’s worked in Player Development, Player Personnel and most recently as an Assistant GM. Now, while he’ll still be involved with the big club, a lot of his day-to-day will shift to the AHL level, overseeing the hockey operations elements involved with the Reign.
“It’s new for me, it’s something that I haven’t done, so now I’m able to work in that world and it’s been great, talking to agents regularly, every day, dealing with our coaches, our staff down there,” Emerson said. “We’ve had a lot of new staff members with the Reign, so I’m dealing with that. You work in this game for a long time and change is okay because it helps you and you learn new things and helps you become better.”
On the Kings/Reign front –
LAK Assistant GM Nelson Emerson will work much more closely with the Reign this season and will add Ontario GM to his duties. Good chat with Nelly on @KingsMenPodcast coming soon! https://t.co/9yZSv3kJm9
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) September 3, 2026
One of the biggest changes for Emerson will be his day-to-day oversight of the Ontario Reign roster.
On one hand, there isn’t always very much that an AHL General Manager can do. The Reign will be composed, primarily, of the players who are assigned to the AHL from the Kings. This season, that should be a pretty healthy number of players both up front and on the blueline. The Kings could carry three goaltenders, which would mean an additional forward could open the season in Ontario. If not, it means three goaltenders in the AHL, all of whom you want to see playing games. Give and take with that decision, but that will come from Ken Holland.
In terms of this year’s team, the Kings expect to take a more cautious approach with prospects who could be on the bubble. That looks at players like Jared Wright and Kenny Connors up front and Angus Booth on the blueline. Guys who should be pushing for NHL spots, but perhaps don’t have the clearest path to one. And, if they did, it would be in the press box or a depth role, versus a top-line role in the AHL. Now, one injury could change that or a very strong training camp could change that. But Emerson and the Kings believe that a little overcooked is better than a little undercooked, so to speak.
“I’ve seen Kenny [Holland] work for a number of years, I saw his teams in Detroit and then his minor league teams in Grand Rapids and the players that went down in the American League and how no one ever gets hurt by spending too much time in the minors. It really doesn’t happen. I’ve watched Kenny do that and we’ll be the same way here. The AHL is a tremendous league. It’s how players get better. It’s how they learn about their craft and we want to make sure that players are ready when they come to the LA Kings.”
Part of being ready is embodying the style that the Kings are playing.
Under Peter Laviolette, it will be quite different than it was last season. The Kings will aim to be a more up-tempo team this season, with the goal of increasing the offensive output throughout the lineup and overall. That needs to translate into the AHL as well. There are obviously some things that you can’t replicate. There are no Artemi Panarin’s in the AHL. But overall, when a player comes up to the Kings, he needs to understand the language being used and the style of play that is expected in certain roles.
Emerson is a big believer in that and plans to make sure that directive continues this season, as it has in the past, with a new staff in place.
“I think it is important for your players to play the same way,” he detailed. “When they get called up to the Kings, they want to have some familiarity with the way the Kings play. Lavi is obviously a new coach and he’s got the philosophy of more up-tempo, more offense, things like that, that we’re really excited about. That will get trickled down to our minor league team. Now, obviously, the players are different and things like that, but the teams want to play the same style, have the same systems and then the coach can make little tweaks here and there about different things.”
Alongside that is the age-old balance between winning games in the AHL and developing prospects.
Every organization approaches that conversation a little bit differently. Ideally they go hand-in-hand, but that isn’t always the case. In Emerson’s eyes, development comes first. Players who come up to the Kings need to be ready to step right in and contribute. We’ve seen it both ways and it’s always apparent when a player is ready to go immediately, versus the alternative. Even with the Kings, there’s been that balance. Marco Sturm often trended more towards winning versus development, while it seems like Andrew Lord has been more towards the middle. We saw prospects who were prepared under both, but it’s not always the same approach. There’s no right answer, but Emerson’s thoughts were pretty clear.
“It’s important in the American League that we’re developing players and we’re developing our draft picks and we’re making that player better, so that he is ready when he comes up to the Kings,” Emerson said. “Obviously winning is a part of that, you want to win more than you lose because there are some learning curves in winning and losing. First and foremost, though, we want to develop our players. We want to make sure that they’re provided quality ice time. We want to make sure that they’re trained the right way to be good pros and then and also we want to want to win some hockey games too.”
I think that quote leads into some natural questions as it pertains to younger players.
Henry Brzustewicz, for example, is eligible to play in the AHL this season as a 19-year-old, due to a rule change in the NHL’s CBA. Vojtech Cihar was always eligible but he’s also 19. Both players could also play junior hockey this season. In goal, Carter George and Hampton Slukynsky are both on track to begin their professional careers this season, but there is only one net. Erik Portillo is at the point of graduation from prospect status, but he’s a quality AHL starter. So, making sure that players are playing key minutes is a priority.
Emerson saw some positive things from Brzustewicz last season in the AHL. He’s taken strides over the past 12 months and he’ll be given the opportunity to come into training camp to first try and impress the NHL staff. Emerson brought up an appropriate point that if he has a strong enough camp, hopefully he’s forcing a more difficult conversation with the Kings. If not, he’ll have the chance to play in the AHL and Ken Holland will make that call. Same goes for Vojtech Cihar, who you could see playing in so many different places this season. Part of what camp is for.
All in all, Emerson will lead the Kings going into the Rookie Faceoff this coming weekend in San Jose and will oversee AHL Training Camp later on this month. He’ll have a ton of influence day-to-day with the organization’s prospects and AHL club, while continuing to assist Holland at the NHL level. Full conversation with Emerson is below, with lots more on individual prospects, his new role and the Rookie Faceoff ahead.